Princeton Dinky Train Ridership: A Double-Digit Decline

After the historic Dinky train station on University Place closed down in August of 2013 and a temporary station was opened on Alexander Street, it was difficult to get a clear picture of how regular train ridership would be affected.

In addition to the train at the temporary station, a shuttle bus ran between downtown Princeton and the Princeton Junction Train Station. Some people who previously walked to the old Dinky station rode the bus to Princeton Junction because the bus stop was located closer to the center of town than the temporary station. Many people also rode the bus because it was free.

The new permanent Dinky station opened on Nov. 17 of 2014, and the free shuttle service between Princeton and Princeton Junction was eliminated.

For the first time since that move, data has become available to make an apples-to-apples comparison of ridership at the old historic station and the new permanent station.

Planet Princeton obtained ridership figures for the first two full months of ridership on the shortened Dinky line — December of 2014 and January of 2015 — and compared the data with the same months two years ago when the train station was still located at University Place.

For the two-month period, ridership declined 15.3 percent when compared with the same period two years ago.

Anita Garoniak, president of the citizen group Save the Dinky, said the drop in ridership is no surprise.

“It is especially unfortunate given that the town is adding hundreds of housing units at distances comfortably accessible by foot and car to the street level station on University Place. It is obvious that people are finding the new station less convenient,” Garoniak said. “Considering this, the Dinky ridership promotion plan that was agreed to in the memorandum of understanding between Princeton University and the town must be formulated and immediately implemented. We have not seen any clear movement in getting this done, even though it was agreed to in 2011, presumably in anticipation of a loss of ridership.”

The memorandum of understanding Garoniak is referring to is an agreement approved by Princeton University and the governing bodies of the former Princeton Borough and Princeton Township. Under the agreement, officials promised to provide numerous enhancements to public transit in downtown Princeton.

Several residents and a few local officials vocally opposed the agreement at the time it was approved back in 2011.

The agreement included funding from the university for a transit study and a traffic study, and a timeline for key elements to be implemented. It called for the creation of a transit task force that would study mass transit issues and future transit, and a second study that would look at traffic issues in Princeton as a whole, with a focus on the central business district downtown and how new university projects like Merwick would affect traffic patterns. Princeton University also agreed to provide an additional $450,000 for three illuminated pedestrian crosswalks on Nassau Street. The agreement extended the period for a new right of way along Alexander from 50 years to 65 years.

Princeton University also promised to develop plans to promote Dinky ridership. Excerpts from the memorandum of understanding related to those promises:

– “Upon approval of this agreement by the government bodies of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, the University will work with the municipalities and local merchants to develop a formal plan to promote Dinky ridership, including but not limited to train ticket receipts being utilized to obtain discounts at McCarter Theater, University athletic events and local stores and restaurants.”

– “Upon approval of this agreement by the governing bodies of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, the University will work together with Princeton Borough and Princeton Township to encourage New Jersey Transit provide additional service, including during off-peak hours and weekend hours.”

– “Upon approval of this agreement by the governing bodies of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, the University shall continue to encourage additional use of the Dinky through the mass transit subsidy it provides to faculty, staff and graduate students and its Transportation Demand Management program.”

Save the Dinky members are now asking what has become of the promises more than three years after the memorandum of understanding was approved.

“To date, unfortunately, we have seen no formal plan,” Garoniak said. “We hope that our elected officials will move forward in conjunction with the University to make good on this promise in the memorandum of understanding.”

Kristin Appelget, director of community and regional affairs for Princeton University, said school officials are working in cooperation with a subcommittee from the town’s public transit committee on the various items in the memorandum of understanding that relate to ridership promotion and service enhancements.

“The subcommittee had a meeting in February and intends to meet again to continue the discussion,” Appelget said.

Princeton University implemented a mass transit reimbursement program for staff prior to the memorandum of understanding. Graduate students became eligible for the program in July of 2011.

The transit task force will present its final report to the Princeton Council on April 27 at the council’s 7:30 p.m. public meeting at the municipal building located at 400 Witherspoon Street.

14 comments

Hello, has anyone ever thought about a compromise. Instead of noise smelly diesel buses, how about using an electric bus. Being that the bus would be clean and quiet, it could possibly even go further than where the train goes. Just a thought.

Those better shuttles could make several flexible stops within the town, not just one stop in the corner. But the Dinky has lots of local and alumni support. NJT will neither kill it or spend $ to change it.

The most interesting “tell” is that in conjunction with the new station opening, PU suspended their “TigerPaww” bus service, which connected University Place just across from McCarter with Princeton Jct.
It was run at no cost to (supposedly only) PU community members, but it was a great alternative.

Yes–because your town can’t get over itself even for five minutes and has to run around clutching its pearls as it blows things out of proportion–things like a 460-foot shift in a train station’s location. The project isn’t even finished yet, but oh my! The sky is falling anyway.

You all went batty about rebuilding the library, too, and now everyone loves it. Princeton is the capital of Much Ado About Nothing, which makes a lot of us are awfully glad we don’t have to live with you. Working there is bad enough.

The Dinky was moved further away from downtown and that was always concerning as a move in the wrong direction. But the move was more than linear, there is also a feeling that the Dinky is now part of private University grounds. By removing the houses on Alexander and the move and makeover of the Wawa, the greater Dinky area now feels more like a sprawling campus than a section of a multi-facited town, it does not feel so inviting to residents. It still does not make sense to me why the original location of the Dinky wouldn’t work for the University. Unless of course it was their long-term intent to kill any concept of a people’s transportation easement because as a property owner seeking to maximize monetary value who wants a pesky easement ..? (or am I being too cynical?)

Clearly, everything’s going exactly to plan. Reduce expectations. Restrict access. Generally, lower everything. Soon, the powers that be will have exactly what they want. Princeton Station off the map. What a victory for local government. What a loss for a town which is sinking ever lower on the “Best Places To Live In NJ” lists. Any ideas why?